Cuban Ministers explain economic measures to public opinion

Cuba Public Health and Education authorities will address the issue of salary increases approved by the government for its workers as part of the economic stimulus measures, recently announced in the parliament.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning (MEP) Alejandro Gil announced on Wednesday that the respective Ministers will appear this Thursday along with union representatives from the Ministries of Public Health and Education.

According to Gil, the authorities will detail the content of all the measures announced on December 21st by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero in the National Assembly of People’s Power.

Gil opened the cycle of public appearances by senior functionaries, who will explain the measures that seek to correct errors and boost the economy. He explained that at the beginning of the year, strong fiscal control will come into force, which includes the suspension of tax exemptions for “non-state economic actors”.

Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro, informed that the tax regime will be applied on sales, services and profits from forms of non-state management of the economy, which will favor the growth of income to sustain the country’s high social spending.

He also announced that the tariff rate for the import of merchandise, raw materials and inputs which add value to national productions and contribute to boosting the internal economy will be reduced by up to 50 percent.

Moreover, tariffs will be increased between 15 and 30 percent for the import of goods produced in the country, such as cigarettes, rum and tobacco, in order to protect national production, the Minister stated.